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How to copy files to a flash drive without dummy files?

I use a flash drive to play music in my car and I copy the music from my MacBook. I have noticed that my flash drive (pen drive) or my player reads the hidden files my MacBook creates on the flash drive and along with that it also creates some dummy files. One can also view them on a PC but not the Mac!
I wanted to know how to copy these files without the trash, spotlight and the dummy files?

— Pranay A

Comments: 2 Responses to “How to copy files to a flash drive without dummy files?”

    14 years ago

    Those aren't "dummy files" -- they are the directory information files. You are talking about the .DS_Store files, right? Those store icon position and view settings for the folder. The Windows equivalent are the Thumbs.db files.
    You can simply use the Terminal to go into these folders and list and delete the .DS_Store files if you wish.
    You can also use this command, but I'm not sure it works with Flash drives, just networked disks:
    defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
    Also, there is a program called BlueHarvest that will do some things like this.

      Pranay A
      14 years ago

      Thank you Gary, for helping me out.
      I didn't know what to call them and I was discussing his with a few of my mates and I heard them call it 'dummy files' hence i used the term. Well I am quite new to the Mac but I have learnt a lot from your videos. Terminal is something that I don't really understand and I don't want to mess things up for myself. I'll checkout the program you suggested and will give you a feedback.

      Thank you.
      Cheers

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